The cost of going ‘green’

While the ecological risk of fossil fuels use is brought starkly before us in the form of the BP oil gush in the Gulf of Mexico, the alternatives have costs that hit us in our pockets.

The current Â£84 per year cost of eco-levies imposed on energy bills could rise by another Â£548 a year by 2025 according to the Express.

The report details a list of added costs:

Â£45 – carbon emission reduction target.

Â£24 – EU emissions trading scheme.

Â£12 – to the “renewables obligation”.

Â£3 – for the community energy saving programme.

An extra 6% is also expected to be raised over the next decade.

Of the average Â£1194 annual household energy cost 7% currently goes to pay eco-levies. So the extra costs could double over the next few years.

At the moment all these taxes are hidden within the energy bills so the general public has no real idea of where their money is going. Just as when filling up the car at the pump.

Ann Robinson of uSwitch told the Express “If consumers are to be expected to meet these costs there has to be clarity over what these hidden taxes are for, a cap set on how much consumers will end up paying and transparency over how the levies are being applied.” She is also worried about the “potentially devastating effect” this could have on poorer families.

Ernst & Young accountants also predict a huge rise in cost to pay for the projected Â£230 billion energy investment programme.

Civitas warn that manufacturing may be lost abroad to avoid these extra costs.

The cost for developing new energy sources won’t go away. And it is the consumer that will always foot the bill at the end of the day. But we do need to know how much it is costing and where the money is going. Every bill, including at the filling station, should have a breakdown of how much the actual fuel costs and detail each tax and levy together with that cost.